


Dead Man Living

by Pirate_Chief



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Weapons of Sorrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-27 19:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18198257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pirate_Chief/pseuds/Pirate_Chief
Summary: Friends don't forget, or give up.  And the monster that could corrupt a noble man must be killed.





	Dead Man Living

Neach tooled the few weapons he kept, always trying to keep them well built and sturdy, doing his best to stay away from the Tower.  Long ago he realized that knowing everything, having never forgotten by reset or death, made him a black sheep of the guardians, and unwanted by the vanguard.  It was this that caused so few guardians to be near him, hunters of course didn't care, and warlocks wanted to study him and all he knew, even titans saw his useful abilities, but he was a tool to most all of them, in one form or another.  He counted on one hand the people who he called friend, the joker of a previous life, now drifting here and there in the system, an exo in the Tower who he remembered from the collapse who had become forgetful after 30 resets, and a noble titan he knew that had been a champion of the crucible, the people, and was renowned for his Rose.  It was a small comfort, as it was simple enough for them to find him, or him to find them.  His old jump ship was his only home now, and by now was filled with guns and a sparrow, along with his bunk, and he kept it in a forgotten part of The Last City most days.

He had been hearing reports of a rogue light bearer, went by a name of Dredgen Yor, some ancient language that he assumed came before humanity, though not from this system.  He didn't bother with it, as rogue light bearers were not new, and from what he heard it was a vanguard issue.  Besides, guardians died all the time, and would just get up and walk it off.  Neach had done it a few times himself, and his ghost, Dochas, had chastised him for it every time.  A small computer lit up, showing vanguard reports, Tower feeds, and a few bounties and missions, but a major feed was information on Yor. 

_Subject:  Rogue-light-Yor_

_Information type: Bounty: Immediate Termination_

_Threat Level:  Complete: Threat to Guardians_

_Subject Dredgen Yor, rogue light bearer, is in possession of weapon capable of permanent death of Guardians without Ghost death.  Weapon is known as Thorn, new weapon classification: Weapon of Sorrow._

_All Guardians are being advised to travel in groups, and any seeking subject Yor are to practice extreme caution of strike level, or raid level enemy.  Repeat, Yor is enemy of the City._

_Notification End_

This raised concern, a rogue light bearer was one thing, an enemy light bearer was bad.  Neach sent a few messages around, finding out what was happening with the bounty, and how everyone planned to stop this monster.  All the returns spoke of Hunters going after the rogue as he wore their cloak, along with a mask, wielding his weapon against everyone from guardians to innocents.  He sent messages out to his friends, and returned to his work, preparing a simple shotgun to tinker with and experiment on.  He used the various weapon parts he had, Dochas converting them to the specific components he needed, to alter the various aspects of the weapon, changing the abilities it presented, the way it handled and fired, learning how to build weapons for his fellow guardians.  He could hear footsteps near the docking ramp of his ship, and he looked to the closed hatch, wondering who would risk being caught not only in a bad part of town, but talking to the unwanted guardian.  The knock on the hull forced him to respond, always wary of the people who came to his door.  "Who's there?"  was all he said, preparing Samael and signaling Dochas to prepare a transmat if needed.

"It's Jacob, the cryptarchy sent me with the engram prints you asked for.  You're always freaking paranoid Neach, just open up!"

"Come on in, and you know damn well why my ship stays sealed."  The ramp opened and a young human man, no more than 20, stepped onto the ship, carrying a few disks holding several dozen plans and blueprints, which were promptly set on the workbench.

"Yeah, yeah.  Trust issues, vanguard issues, general worry that someone is gunning for you.  You do realize that most people don't actively fear being murdered or betrayed by everyone, right?"  Jacob raised an eyebrow, cryptarchy robes hanging loosely off him.  He had a point and was right and stood with a cocky stance because of it.

"Most don't, you're right."  Jacob swaggered a bit, and Neach wondered if the boy would have been a Warlock or a Hunter for it.  "But I have made more enemies than you can know, from warlords to creatures of the darkness.  And I have been betrayed by more of humanity than any being should."  The two of them sat and talked for hours, discussing everything the old exo had seen and experienced, from the golden age, to the collapse, the age of warlords ruling plots of land, and all while holding a refuge that would become a City.  Watching for centuries as a simple refuge of tents became a village, a town, and now a city like what used to dot the system, places filled with people, culture, and life.  But it was in this watch he became unwanted as innumerable guardians came and went, and he was seen by some as the leader they should have, but many more saw him as a threat to power or a rogue light bearer.  Jacob began to understand, having rarely been able to properly speak to Neach, always told to do the work and not spend time with the pariah titan.  

After the boy left, a sack full of glimmer and a few treasures for his patrons, Neach set about looking over the blueprints, seeing the process of making, altering, and perfecting the new weapon designs he was brought.  In his time he had made scrap common weapons into legendaries, using knowledge gleamed from golden age laboratories, research from the cryptarchs and warlocks, and centuries of tooling and tinkering with the various weapons they found and built.  He looked forward to the opportunity to teach guardians to build mighty weapons of their own, designed by their own hands, not the random pieces that they were rewarded with by the city foundries, forcing them to hope for the weapons they needed to do their job and complete tasks and challenges they had difficulty in.  

Another couple of years passed this way, and Neach had prepared quite a working knowledge of the weapons guardians found.  In this time he had also examined many of the exotic weapons that made their way through the city, leading to starting a few plans for some simple ones that could be easily replicated by ghosts and city foundries.  He did notice that most lacked the same deadly ability of the ones found by guardians throughout the system, making him wonder if they could ever have value to guardians of another age.  He poured a glass of scotch, well-aged for a few centuries, the warehouse it was kept lucky to have survived that time, and had Dochas put on a playlist from his youth, starting with a wondrous song, Undead Lullaby.  A dark smile flowed over his lips as mouthed the words, dancing about his hangar in a gleefully dark celebration of accomplishment.  He got two drinks in, just starting to feel a buzz when a message came over the small computer on his counter:

_Urgent message follows_

_Recipient: Neach-Solais-0_

_Sender: Ghost: Rezyl Azzir_

_Message: Neach, please help!  I am on my way to you, something has happened to Rezyl!_

_Message End_

Neach prepared his ship, opened the ramp, and got his weapons ready.  He had a bad feeling about what he was about to hear, something in him, where his stomach used to be, felt stuck and wrong, his friend was in danger, or worse.  The music kept playing in the background over the hour as he got resources and guns together, ship in standby, loose items stowed.  Into the hold came a small form, a simple white shelled ghost, dirt and dust covering the shell, somehow the small movements looking tired and exhausted, and Neach came over to his small friend.  "Neach, Rezyl is gone."

Arc energy burst on steel as the titan punched a 4-inch plate, leaving a small dent from rage, Dochas checking for damage quickly as he spoke, "Dredgen Yor killed him?  Or did something else manage to destroy his light?"  The black shelled ghost glowed slightly along red lines as he spoke, SIVA nodules firing up as the tiny being did everything to keep calm.

"No, not exactly."  It looked down, regret and shame obvious.  "The man who was Rezyl is alive," Neach cocked his head at this, confused and emotions wild, "but he's not Rezyl anymore.  His gun corrupted him."  The little light's words were mournful, it was hurting.

"Rose corrupted him?  How?  We have been studying weapons for centuries, nothing even partially indicates a weapon co-” Dochas was cut off as Rezyl's ghost exploded with light

"It's not Rose anymore!"  The ball of light stared them both down, wanting to cry, to find a way to stop hurting.  "It's Thorn."  Suddenly the air was quiet, no, worse, it seemed as if there was no air between the three machines.  "Rose became Thorn.”

"And Rezyl became Dredgen Yor."  Neach spoke softly, though his words were heavy, anger and sorrow mixed equally.  "Tell us what happened."  The three sat for an hour as the ghost told of Rezyl going to the moon, disappearing into the dark, and coming out with a pouch full of bone.  Grafting it to his weapon, the weapon speaking to him, filling him with darkness, till Rezyl was no more.  He told them of Mars, of the two separating, and how only 4 beings knew this, the 3 here, and Yor.  "That gun, hive magic.  Maybe we can save him."

"Neach, I don't think there's hope."  Came the response from the ghost.  "He was so dark, he had changed so much."

"Maybe, but we have to try."  Neach said, preparing the ship, closing the ramp, and settling in to his seat.  "That's what a friend does, little light, they hope, and they try to save their friends."  At this he gunned the engine and followed the ghost's directions out of the City, heading toward an old mountain range.  

"Landing 5 miles away, don't want to risk being spotted."  Neach stated after the long flight, night becoming day in that time.  The landed in a field of wild grass that bordered a massive forest, signs of a small amount of activity, like a group of new hunters had been moving through the area.  Stealthier than a titan, but far less than an experienced hunter.  It was following these signs that they came to an abandoned camp, and by the build they surmised a group of human civilians had been travelling with a hunter, obviously seeking Yor to end him.  Most of these tracks went in every direction similar to the path they took to reach this place, save one, one set of tracks that followed the wind of their hunter.  Neach did all he could to make his trail so small, following the path through the brush, the terrain rough and the flora growing thick from the light and water through the pines.  It was a half hour later, near the cliff edge, a body, a hunter.  At first there was fear, had his friend met an end before they could have a chance to save him, but then, anger, finding instead an acquaintance, Jaren.  He and Neach had discussed building weapons many times, learning together, sharing research, the hunter had studied Samael a multitude of times, culminating in the creation of a design, an old west style weapon.  A foundry named Tex Mechanica built the weapon for him, and Neach footed the bill so that with that one weapon they could step closer to normalcy.

Now he was a lightless corpse in the wilds, and his cannon was gone, as was his ghost.  The single round in his chest, a barb of twisted metal and death, spoke of the weapon that ended him, the dark and cruel hunger it had.  Neach remembered that darkness, fighting through it, preparing to die within it, and the light that saved him and so many.  And so he felt sorrow, knowing his friend was gone, replaced with this monster who would so callously murder others.  He knew what would have to be done.

After several years of following leads, bribing less than savory sorts, and even forming a business relationship with a fallen, they discovered the location of Yor, and the guardian who pursued him, the one who was picked by Jaren's cannon, and was chosen by his ghost.  Neach was astounded at the second part, another guardian who wasn't raised from death by the light, but he feared the results that came from experiencing the loss of his mentor and father figure.  Anger and revenge had cost humanity so much, even before the golden age, and granting immortality to a person who was so young and full of that very need to destroy another was not what Neach had hoped for.  Most would wind up working through their emotions, going through the stages of grief and growing from it, instead this boy, Shin Malphur, was a rage filled guardian with no consequences or need to contemplate them.  "We need to stop him, before he does something he won't live to regret."

Dochas had prepared the ship and Rezyl's ghost anxiously floated as they flew from the asteroids of the Tangled Shore to back to Earth, to a place called Dwindler's Ridge.  They needed to arrive before the two fought, before the young hunter fell at the hands of a monster.  Dochas and Neach planned the battle and came up with an idea of what to do with Thorn once they defeated Yor, coming up with the conclusion that it needed to be studied to understand how it became what it was.  

The landing was low and fast, Neach moved fast and low up the mountain, Samael drawn and readied, Dochas incorporeal with his titan as they reached the top.  Just beneath his exterior his light was flowing fiercely, ready to be unleashed and destroy his foe.  Rezyl's ghost kept the ship high and circling the area, observing from a distance, spotting any threats for them, but not seeing anything in the area.  "He isn't known for hiding, where could he be?"  Dochas said calmly, Neach crouching behind a boulder a bit bigger than himself, left hand pulling forth solar energy to form a grenade, careful to not prime it yet.  With that he stood and circled around it, the ridge nearly bare, a dark form laying at the top.  Stepping slowly, eyes glued to the shape, radar blank in his periphery, keeping his steps deliberate and focused so as not to potentially trip or stumble since he wasn't able to check where he was walking.

"Ghost, I have good news and bad news."  He said, close enough to see the form become identifiable.  "Bad news, we were too late.  Good news, the kid won."  The pause and silence he heard was palpable, only able to guess what Rezyl's ghost felt at the moment.  He bent to look over the body, checking for anything useful, seeing the worn and abused face of his old friend, the darkness having drained the light so completely from him, a scorched hole in his temple from a last shot of solar light to verify his death.  Thorn remained holstered, not drawn during the fight, and the armor was piece meal and meant to look hunter while still being titan thick and heavy.  

"What should I do?"  The ghost asked, bringing the jump ship in to pick up the exo and the body.  "If I raise him, will he...?"  The question was left unfinished due to fear, sorrow, hope lost and forgotten, and knowing the answer.  The little ghost appeared next to his friend, looking over the three scorch marks that had torn through the body of his former partner.

"You can't raise him," Dochas answered mournfully, having been friends with Rezyl as well, “His light is gone, that thing drained him of it.  I’m sorry.”  Neach hoisted the dead man and carried him to the ship, setting him over a crate, and pulled the cannon from the holster.  Instantly he heard the whisper, recognizing it from the dark clouds of the collapse, and tossed it onto his bench.  He had Dochas scan it, learning all he could about the strange gun, while Rezyl’s ghost mourned. 

“He was your guardian, use what you have to, make his body look like the Rezyl he was long ago.  Then I’ll bury him, with a Rose I built, so no one knows.”  The little ghost nodded at this and started converting the dead monster’s armor to look like the noble man who he had been so long ago.  Dochas analyzed the weapon, studying its construction and energy, uncovering its secrets and abilities.  “And this, we need to find out if it can be cleansed or needs to be destroyed.”

“Thank you Neach.  Rezyl was lucky, just, don’t trust that gun.  It’s a thing of evil.”  The guardian looked at his dead friend’s corpse, hollowed by the dark, consumed by a weapon, by a craving for power.

“I know, and so did Rezyl.  That’s why he made Yor fire last, so that Shin would kill him.”  He looked at the monstrous, jagged weapon of sorrow on his workbench, admiring the beauty in the cruel design.  “He fought till the end against the darkness.  Now he rests, finally at peace.”  Back in the City Neach made arrangements with Shaxx, letting him know the former champion would be laid to rest, and that it should be kept minimal, so as not to dampen the moods of all celebrating the death of Yor.

It took 3 weeks of studying the weapon before Neach and Dochas concluded that the wicked creature Rezyl had faced needed to die for the weapon to be free of hive influence and went to Luna in this venture.  After landing, Dochas remained behind, knowing the risks faced, as the exo travelled his friend’s path, following the dark into a hive temple.  He drew Samael, ready to fight, and was greeted by a rasping voice.

“It has been some time since light found its way here.  My thrall are hungry, and I sense the bones of my betrothed have returned.”  The voice was pain and suffering made sound, though Neach stood strong through it, cold indifference for this creature steeled his mind, and the lack of fear stopped the blades she spoke.  “Have you come to prove your strength and overcome us like your friend?  Or have you come to die seeking glory?”  The chittering horde was just beyond sight, his weapon was ready, and he waited to fire only when he could hit.

“I came to cleanse my friend of your curse.  Dredgen Yor is dead, and Rezyl Azzir rests peacefully.”  He drew the dark weapon with his left hand, holding the pair of weapons steady and prepared for battle.  “Now this weapon will be freed to defend the light.”  The thralls charged but fell in a blaze of light from Samael as the first one’s head erupted from a precision shot, and the chamber was, for a moment, bright as day, the ragged form of the witch covering her face at this. Thorn faced the next group of blinded hive, thrall who stood in a loose congregation, before a sharp shot rang through them, the barbed round tearing flesh and bone as a straight line of living corpses became ash, and the few that survived burned with poison.  Another shot from Samael brought more light to the chamber, flooding the floor of the cavern with it, as another mass of hive monsters burned away.  It continued in this manner for only a few minutes, and the witch fled to the surface, leaving her army to die to the guardian before them.

Neach smiled, enjoying the savagery, the power, feeling joy in destroying his foes in this way.  No whispers, no sorrow, only destruction of his foes, and in that he caught himself.  Thorn was feeding his destructive nature as it had Rezyl, a siren’s song deep in his mind, feeding the id, conditioning him.  He stared at the gun, and threw it away, back into the chamber for the monsters to keep, and then left.  Another guardian, stronger than him would one day claim that weapon, but for now it could sit with the hive, and be forgotten.

He left the temple and the caverns behind, enjoying the view of the stars through his helmet.  Hope, hope had missed, the thought of humanity’s destiny out there, among those stars.  He trekked back to his LZ, a long walk across the surface of rock and craters, until he found a footprint.  The witch cackled behind him, and a beastly creature wielding a sword walked past her, a servant to destroy the one who had assailed her with light.  She flew away, back to her temple, while the beast raised its blade to cleave the light bearing offender, and Neach punched it in the chest, solar light scorching the chitin armor, before firing into it with his shotgun.  It seemed to laugh at the chips made in its defenses, and swatted the titan aside, causing him to crash, end over end, into the surface of Luna, skidding 30 yards before stopping at the lip of a small crater.  He groaned at the discomfort and stood, forming a primed grenade of void light, tossing it beneath his foe, suppressing it and slowing the beast for a moment while he focused on his full light, taking a moment to draw it forth.  The blade raised high, the hive warrior bellowing heavily as it brought it down again, only to stop against a shield of void light, the titan staring at the monster past it, then pushing the weapon aside and swinging his war axe of solar fire into the chitin armor, a deep cut scorching through it.

The rock beneath lit up with arc light as the titan bounded around his foe, slicing into him with the power of the sun, smashing him with the weight of the void, and remaining ahead of any retaliatory blows with the swiftness of the storm.  This continued for only a minute, burning through light quickly as he beat the enemy into submission, only for the creature to seize him once the light was gone, and drive his blade through Neach.  Dochas was still far away, waiting on the signal to land and pick up his friend, and couldn’t save Neach, not while this monster lived.  The beast lifted the titan from the ground, bringing it close to laugh and gloat, victorious, only to hear the maniacal laughter of the light bearer as he removed his helmet with his left hand.  “I win.”

Raising his right hand, Samael held firm, he placed the cannon under hive champion’s chin, and fired round after round, watching a hole form and grow larger with each shot out of the top of its head, until, with the last round, it exploded in light.  Neach collapsed to the ground, the blade broken from the force of the blast, and Neach pulled what was left free.  The blast had thrown Samael free, and it landed a few yards away, though the exo didn’t worry about collecting it.  He laid in the pool of light created from the beast’s death, and closed his eyes.  Dochas would return to the City, told not to come down if Neach didn’t signal, though his titan, his guardian would be dead very soon.  Eyes closed, he let himself drift, the light warm around him, and he was gone.

Dochas took the ship back to the forgotten City quarter, and informed Banshee-32.  Banshee was to look over the ship in the underground bunker where it was to be stored, and Dochas rested within it.  If a guardian came along who could reach the moon, reach his guardian, only then would he awaken to bring his friend back from death


End file.
